Pictured above are employees of Bear and Ruth in
1898. At the time this picture was taken, Abraham Bear and Jacob Ruth had a
pork packing and provision business, with locations at 809-811 Water Street and
58 Railroad Street, which is now Shoreline Drive. Abraham Bear was born in
Cleveland, Ohio in 1842 to Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Bear. The family relocated to
Sandusky when Abraham was very young. Nathan Bear had a grocery business in
Sandusky, and then he formed a provision business with F.W. Alvord. By 1867,
Abraham Bear joined his father Nathan in the fish business, known as Bear and
Son. A few years later Abraham and Nathan Bear joined with Jacob Hosmer to form
Hosmer, Bear and Company, which dealt in pork and fish packing as well as a
commission business.
After the death of Nathan Bear, Abraham Bear formed
a partnership with Jacob Ruth, and the company was known as Bear and Ruth. An
article in the October 18, 1958 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that “For about forty years the name of
Bear & Ruth meant a high quality of pork products. Their trademark of a
bear was a familiar one in Sandusky and over the north central states. Hickory
smoked, extra sugar cured hams and bacon were their specialty.” When Abraham Bear died in 1919, the headline
of his obituary which appeared in the November 4, 1919 Sandusky Register read “Leading Citizen, Abraham Bear, is Called by
Death.”
Abraham Bear was
buried in the Oheb Shalom Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Flora, and
daughter, Mrs. Leo Asch of Philadelphia.
